It seems lights year ago when the Atlanta Hawks were truly relevant in the NBA.

In the mid-1980s, the Hawks, led by coach Mike Fratello and superstar Dominique Wilkens, had Atlanta excited about professional basketball. And while the team has shown flashes of greatness since that time, nothing has really come close to rivaling those seasons in the 1980s.

The Hawks have had different players and different coaches. Some have had a strong pedigree, but Atlanta’s NBA franchise still has yet to reach an Eastern Conference final. It’s baffling really. One year under Lenny Wilkens, the team had the best record in the Eastern Conference during the regular season.Alas, the Hawks were still sent packing from the postseason before the conference finals, let alone the NBA finals.

It’s been tough to be a fan of pro basketball in Atlanta. Sellouts typically occur because another team and its superstar players are in town. When LeBron James and the Miami Heat visit Atlanta, it will be a sellout. That holds true for the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant as well. However, if a team with less star power or one which does not have a history of winning comes calling, there will be plenty of people dressed as empty seats.

The Hawks, on the surface, are trying to get back to relevance. A new head coach has arrived in Mike Budenholzer, who has a long history (in addition to a long name) with the San Antonio Spurs. This seems like a solid hire by new Hawks general manager Danny Ferry. Budenholzer clearly has been part of an NBA dynansty for well over a decade with the Spurs. The brand of play utilized by the Spurs focuses on team play, rather than individuals. It’s an odd strategy in a league which lives and dies with superstars, but it can obviously work.

Unfortunately, there has already been talk that Atlanta will have to — here comes the dreaded word ‘rebuild’ — for a couple of seasons. When you’ve been waiting for a championship rule throughout the history of the franchise, I guess the powers-that-be figure what’s a couple more seasons?

Still, there seems to be a new sense of enthusisasm for the franchise. A new sports talk station in town is heavy on the NBA in general as well as the Hawks. Their constant promotion of the team (even during the early stages of the offseason) will help more than some realize.

I rewatched some of those classic playoff battles between the Hawks and the Boston Celtics recently and it’s amazing how excited the Atlanta fans were for pro basketball. Even with superstars for the other team like Larry Bird in the building (the old Omni), there was no denying who the home crowd was for. Can it be that way again? Let’s hope so.

Patience has long since worn thin for most Hawks fans and the 1980s was admittedly a long time ago, even for this fan of that decade.

Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. You can send comments about this column to cbridges@barrowjournal.com.

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